Tag Archives: Presbyt

Friday night we had our traditional Dinner on the Slab with our Future Homeowner and her family.

(If you just want to see the pictures, click any picture for a slide show and link to pictures you can copy.)

First let me explain what this is all about. This blog is pretty much dedicated to the homeless, particularly homeless veterans and youth. But not completely, as each year I take some time off to work on a Habitat for Humanity home and post a progress report with slideshows, tutorial and pictures of the events. I’ll continue to add articles on homeless as I go along. You can access the articles by category, using the links in the header or the tags and categories to find the topics you are interested in. In general, you can find all Habitat for Humanity Articles here, all Homeless Veterans Articles here, All PSTD articles here, and all Homeless Youth Article here. The links above and to the right allow you to also find my most popular articles. When this is all done, you can find the 2008 Habitat Build here, or look at it on a running basis throughout the build.

This one is the first of a series of about a dozen articles on our current build. It will carry you from the day before we start to build (todays article) all the way through the dedication ceremony and house warming. If I do everything as planned, you will also get a “how to build a Habitat House Tutorial”. To be taken with a grain of salt as I am certainly not an expert, but reporting what I experience and the various jobs I take on during the build.

Background

Here is a little background. I am a member of Macland Prebyterian Church which is in return a member of the Presbyterian Coalition, Cobb Habitat for Humanity and I am their representative, a member of the board. The Coalition is composed of Presbyterian Churches in Cobb County, Georgia that raise money to sponsor one or two houses in our county each year. We raise the money, about $55,000 to pay for the lot and any undonated materials. We also build the house(s) and fund a number of houses in Kenya each year. After Hurricane Dennis we also helped Cobb Disaster Recovery in rebuilding damaged homes in Cobb.

This year we will build one house in Cobb County, Georgia (our 22d house in Cobb so far) and seven in Kenya (total 32 in Kenya)!

Nicole Combs, Future Homeowner stands on the site of her new home

(Click on any picture to start slide show)

This wonderful smiling face belongs to Elijah, Nicole’s son. Some of the framing can be seen behind him

The future homeowner, Nicole Combs has a son Elijah, 7. She will work on the house with our volunteers to get the house built. Homeowners come up with a down payment, are required to work on other houses as well as their own for some 200 hours of “sweat equity”. For us, it is mission work, Christ’s command: help the needy!

The homeowner will actually sign a contract to buy the house at a greatly reduced price (compared to the appraised value) and then make interest-free monthly payments until it is paid for. Cobb Habitat for Humanity takes care of selecting the homeowners, purchasing the land and preparing the streets and lots prior to the volunteers (that’s us) coming in. That includes getting either the concrete poured if it is to be built on a concrete floor, or building a block foundation if not. In the latter case, a few people, men and women from our group go out and frame and deck the floor prior to the volunteers arriving.

Schedule: The build dates are Saturdays May 10, 17, 31 and June 14. Then we go into blitz week where volunteers work all week to finish the house and landscaping June 16 through 21. (We have skipped an extra weekend this year due to Memorial Day weekend.)

Location: The site is located in the same subdivision as last year, but in the second phase of the development. Mableton, Hillcrest Subdivision. Take Barrett/East West Connector to Floyd Road, turn right, follow and continue as it changes to Mableton Parkway, turn right on South Gordon Road, then left on Hillcrest. Look for a new subdivision on the left.about 8/10 mile from South Gordon Road. About a 20 minute drive from our church.

Youth Take Notice:: The minimum age for the first four days is 16, 14 after that. (blitz week) All young folks, guys and gals are all welcome if you meet the age requirements. Drag your parents along!

Dinner on the Slab

Dinner on the slab means bring a covered dish, utinsels to serve the dish and your own chair. Anyone that wants to come are welcome. We invite the future homeowner and their family and friends.

Cobb Habitat has already poured the concrete and it is hardened and ready to build, so all we have to do is clear out an area big enough to set up tables and chairs. There was chicken, bar-b-que, various salads and deserts, water, tea and soft drinks. Also a few well chosen wines (OK by Presbyterian standards).

For most of us, this is our first opportunity to meet the new homeowner and family. Nicole is going to be a joy to work with. Elijah is very bright, energetic, and inquiring, wants to know everything that is going on.

Copies of Pictures

To get copies of any picture, click on the slide show and look above the slide show and you wiil find a link to the group of pictues (“back to Habitat 2008 set”). Or click on any picture during the slide show and it will stop and allow you to select that picture (View Main Page). When you see a picture you like and you have it in your sights, look for a link above for a button that says all sizes. From there you can choose vearious sizes including a very large one. When you have the size you want, you can click download for a free copy. Copy as many as you want. Or here is a direct link to the set. Click on any picture for a larger view and copy insturctions. Enjoy